


When Universes Collide

by orphan_account



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Blatant disregard of canon where necessary, Crossover, F/M, M/M, On Hiatus, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-23
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2017-12-27 09:43:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/977290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[[HIATUS]]</p><p>Sherlock begins investigating a string of deaths that all appear to be the same man and The Doctor gets a message asking him to cross into an alternate dimension.</p><p>Alternatively: Wholock because why the hell not? Inspired by this <a href="http://doomslock.tumblr.com/post/25787049266">gifset</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. Can haul all the groceries by myself!” John called, tugging the bags up the steps. As usual, he received no response from his flat mate. Muttering about why he couldn’t have a flat share that wasn’t a lazy egotist he walked to the kitchen only to stop and glare at the science equipment Sherlock had sprawled over the table-top.

John set the bags down and turned, not surprised in the least to find Sherlock lying on the couch, his eyes fixed on the ceiling, his fingers steepled, his mind clearly on some sort of puzzle.

“You do know you don’t live here alone, don’t you?” John asked, more than a bit irritated. Sherlock didn’t bother to acknowledge the statement so he added, “Did you get a new case?”

“No.”

“Then what are you doing?”

Sherlock’s head tilted towards the laptop sitting on the coffee table. John picked it up and glanced at the screen. Three tabs were open depicting three different deaths.

“I don’t see-.”

“Look closer,” The soft response cut him off and John skimmed the article, his eyes widening as he caught on.

“That’s, that’s the same man, in all three articles.”

“The exact same man mysteriously dying at three different days and the body vanishing each time.” Sherlock murmured.

“Maybe he was never really dead.”

“No pulse, all three times. The second article mentions a gunshot wound on the side of his head. He should be dead.”

John sat in a chair, watching the detective closely, “Does anyone know him?”

“No,” Sherlock’s eyes flicked to John, “Did you refrigerate the milk?”

Cursing, John stood and moved to put away the groceries, “There had better not be a bloody heart in the fridge.”

…

Sherlock Holmes, the world’s only consulting detective, was confused. He had spoken to reporters, first responders, witnesses and hospital workers and couldn’t find anything to explain the man who died multiple times. He glared at the notes and pictures pinned to the wall, there had to be a crack, a hole in the story, something that didn’t line up.

He vaguely registered John walking up the stairs but he didn’t waste time turning from his notes.

“No luck?” John asked.

“None,” Sherlock couldn’t help the annoyed tone from seeping into his voice, “This man should be dead, there’s no logical reason for him to still be alive.”

“Perhaps he isn’t.”

“And perhaps his body just magically disappeared from each of the hospital morgues. He didn’t stay dead the first two times, there’s no reason to assume a break in the pattern for the third time.” Sherlock began pacing the flat, his body rigid with frustration as he began muttering possibilities to himself.

John shook his head and moved to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.  When he left the kitchen he found Sherlock on his laptop, typing.

“And what’s wrong with your own laptop?”

“It doesn’t automatically log onto your blog.”

“What on earth are you doing on my blog?” John asked.

“Writing a blog post.” Sherlock’s voice was laced with the dry tone that told John that he thought the answer was obvious, “You constantly like to say your blog has more readership, if that is so it will solve our problem in a matter of days.” He decisively hit the enter button and sat back in the chair, “Perhaps now we’ll have some answers.”

…

“That’s right, keep your hand just there. No, don’t move it! Careful! Nearly took a chunk out of the 1920s, not that it would make them much worse mind you.”

“Relax, it’s not like I’ll destroy the universe.” Rose said, flashing a grin at The Doctor.

“Not for lack of trying,” He replied under his breath, leaning over and flipping a switch when Rose nearly crashed them into the 27th century. “Had enough yet?”

Rose shrugged, “I suppose, let’s see the expert at work.” She stepped away so The Doctor could take over the piloting of the TARDIS once again. His face lit up as he maneuvered them through the time vortex and Rose smiled to herself. If The Doctor loved anything it was his blue box.  

She let her eyes roam around the console room, frowning when she noticed a faint glow coming from the coat The Doctor had a habit of throwing carelessly over a railing. Rose moved to the jacket and dug around the pocket, picking up the leather that held the physic paper.

“Doctor, your paper’s glowing.” She called.

The Doctor flipped a pair of switches and whacked a button before strolling over to where she stood, “Well let’s see why.” He opened it and raised an eyebrow at the writing that scrawled across the paper, “Coordinates, in Jack’s handwriting. Probably needs help with something.”

“Then let’s go help him.”

“Not that simple, he’s a long way off, Rose.”

“Lucky we have the TARDIS then, isn’t it? How far could he possibly be?”

“A different dimension.”


	2. Visiting the Agency

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose find a way across the Void

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for clarity, this story is set between The Great Game and Scandal in Belgravia for Sherlock and John. For the Doctor and Rose it's set after Doomsday and diverges from canon, Rose stayed with the Doctor while her family went to the other universe.

“A different dimension, you said that was impossible,” Rose murmured.

“It is,” The Doctor said, “So the question is, how did Jack get there?”

Rose considered the question, “You said the Time Lords were in charge of dimension hopping, could someone else have gotten it to work? Like, maybe the Time Agents?”

“Not sure, but we could always ask.” He pulled a lever on the console and the TARDIS shot into the Vortex.

…

“Commander, I’m getting a strange reading here, in the Vortex.”

“Strange how?”

“It _looks_ like it’s a TARDIS, ma’am.”

The commander frowned, “But that’s not possible.”

“Yet it’s there, coming right at us, in fact it should land…” The man trailed off as a blinking light appeared accompanied by an unusual sound reminiscent to a large vehicle skidding on asphalt.

The control room silenced as a large blue box appeared in the middle of the room. No one spoke as the door opened and a tall, thin man in a pinstriped suit stepped out of the box, followed by a young woman.”

“Here’s a place I never thought we’d visit!” The man exclaimed, “The main headquarters for the Time Agency.” He whirled on his feet, beaming, “Cleaned up in here since my last visit, love the new tech.”

The commander stepped forward, “I am Commander Jessica Thorne, head of the Time Agency, I demand you state your name, species and intent.”

“Well, that’s not that pleasant,” The man said, more to himself as he scratched his head, “You could just ask, but that’s the Agency, a bit rude all over.”

The woman rolled her eyes, “My name’s Rose Tyler, I’m human and I just sort of tag along. This is the Doctor.”

A murmur spread through the room as Commander Thorne raised an eyebrow, “ _You’re_ the Doctor? Really?”

“Was the last time I checked,” He replied, “You can check yourself, if you like.”

“Scan him.”

A young man moved forward and pointed a scanner at the Doctor, “Two-hearts, ma’am, he’s a Time Lord.”

“Yup!” The Doctor said, “But straight to the point, I’ve got a friend of mine stuck in a parallel universe. The Agency hasn’t been up to its old tricks, has it?”

…

Rose stared around the room, slightly bored as she waited for the Doctor to finish reading the files Commander Thorne had provided. The Time Agency reminded her of the Star Trek shows Mickey had constantly had her watch. Everyone here seemed extremely busy though she couldn’t fathom what they were up to.

“So how did a human end up travelling with the last Time Lord?” Thorne asked, handing Rose a cup of tea.

“More common than you would think,” Rose replied, “He blew up my work and I saved him from the Nestene Consciousness. What exactly does the time Agency do?”

Thorne shook her head, “Sorry, classified.”

“The Time Agency,” the Doctor announced, “Makes a habit of meddling with things beyond their control, a bit like Torchwood actually. But, for once, they may be onto something. Commander Thorne, can you show me the project?”

Jessica consider him for a few moments be moments before turning, “Follow me.”

They set off down the corridor and Rose raised an eyebrow, “Out of all the agencies we’ve visited this one is by far my favorite, they didn’t even try to shoot us.”

“No,” the Doctor murmured, “Not yet anyways.”

The pair were led to a secure lab and into a steel encased room. Sitting on a table were two stands, on one stand sat a Vortex manipulator.

The Doctor pulled his glasses from his suit jacket, “May I?”

Commander Thorne nodded and the Doctor moved forward, peering at the manipulator, “Oh, that’s clever,” he said, more to himself than to Rose or the commander, “That’s brilliant. Where in the universe did you get this idea?”

“There were rumors that something had successfully built a Void ship, since that’s possible we thought we would get a bit creative.”

“Sorry, but what is it?” Rose asked.

“A Void manipulator. Same concept and function as a Vortex manipulator but, in theory, this will let you hop across the Void, into another dimension, inspired, really. What happened to the other one?”

“It was stolen, nearly a month ago.” Commander Thorne said.

The Doctor glanced at her, “And you think I know who stole it.”

“You mentioned a friend of yours stuck in a parallel universe and besides, why else would you be here?” Commander Thorne pointed out, “The devices aren’t yet completely functional, good for one trip only. Once you get to another dimension you’re stuck. We can’t fix it unless we have both devices, they’re two parts of a whole.”

“Easy enough, Rose and I just have to hop over and pick up Jack so I can fix them both.” The Doctor picked up the manipulator and pulled out his sonic, pointing at the device, “Just have to set the coordinates and make sure it carries us both, and my TARDIS, and we’re on our way, come on.”

He set off, headed back to the TARDIS with Rose just half a step behind. Trailing the pair was Commander Thorne, a scowl etched on her face, “Now hold on, Doctor, you can’t just waltz in here, take our top-secret project and jet off to a different dimension.”

“Can’t I?” he said, unlocking the TARDIS and motioning Rose inside.

“That is property of the Time Agency and your friend Jack is a thief. This should be a task for a time agent.” She pulled out her gun, “Don’t make me use this.”

“Always with the guns,” the Doctor muttered before raising his voice, “Here’s the thing, Commander Thorne, I _am_ a time agent. I’m the highest authority on the agency of Time, I’m a Time Lord. Thanks for your help.” He closed the door of the TARDIS and rushed to the console, “Need to find somewhere to jump from, can’t risk coming back into the middle of a fight or some such.”

“We can put her in my apartment since mum’s in another dimension,” Rose offered.

“Good,” the Doctor hit a button, parking the TARDIS and dashing about the console, pulling out wires from the floor and connecting them to the manipulator as he muttered calculations to himself. When everything was in place, he strapped on the Void manipulator, “Let’s go find that creation of yours.”

“Is it safe, Doctor?”

“We’ll be fine, Rose, I promise.” He said, holding out the arm with the manipulator attached.

Rose nodded and placed her hand on the device, “Let’s go then.”

The Doctor grinned, “Allons-y.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Constructive criticism is always welcome! Feel free to comment here or leave a note on my tumblr (livingholmesless).


	3. Guests at Baker Street

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 221B has some interesting guests

In the time he had known Sherlock, John had carefully catalogued a list of things that tended to upset the detective. The list ranged from stupid questions to visits from Mycroft and centered around unsolved cases. Perhaps the thing that bothered Sherlock the most was waiting, and as days passed without any response to the advert Sherlock had posted on his blog, the world’s only consulting detective got more and more irritable. As a precaution, John had hidden his gun and ammo in two different places, attempting to spare the walls of 221B from more battering.

“Two weeks, John,” Sherlock muttered, pacing the living room, “No lead, no contact, no news. Someone knows something.”

John glanced up from the paper, “Why don’t you take a case to distract yourself?”

“I’ve solved six. Lestrade doesn’t have anything else.”

“What about Mycroft?” John suggested.

Sherlock didn’t bother to respond, merely throwing John a look that could wither plants as he continued pacing. John rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the newspaper, vaguely listening to Sherlock’s mutterings in case his flatmate decided to do something drastic. The pacing slowly increased to a frantic speed and John started to worry that Sherlock would jump out of the window just to see if it was a viable exit route in an emergency.

The doorbell stopped Sherlock in his tracks and he whirled, facing the threshold as if he could see all the way to the door downstairs.

“Client?” John asked.

“No, something else,” Sherlock murmured, his eyes twinkling with delight, “Information.”

The door was opened by Mrs. Hudson and a cheerful, male voice floated its way upstairs, “Afternoon, ma’am, we’re looking for a John Watson.”

“Just up these stairs.”

The footsteps indicated two people following Mrs. Hudson, one a man and one a young woman. Mrs. Hudson peaked inside the flat, “John, this young man is looking for you.

“Actually, he is looking for me,” Sherlock said, “Thank you, Mrs. Hudson.” He motioned to the couch, “Take a seat, both of you, and don’t waste my time. My name is Sherlock Holmes.”

The man’s face split into a broad grin, “Really? I thought this was all a bit accurate to be coincidence.” He glanced at his companion, “What do you think of that, Rose? Detective Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John Watson.”

“This is mad,” The young woman, Rose, laughed, “Completely mental, it’s the 21st century.”

“Different dimension, not too unusual,” The man replied before offering a hand to Sherlock, which the detective took only after John sent a glare his way, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Holmes. I’m the Doctor, this is my friend, Rose Tyler.”

John frowned, “Doctor who?”

“No, just the Doctor,” He said, strolling to the couch and taking a seat, “We’re looking for a friend of ours.”

“The man who doesn’t die,” Sherlock stated.

“Well,” The Doctor said, “We call him Jack, but I suppose it doesn’t matter too much.” He squinted at the opposite wall to where Sherlock had created a collage of all he knew, “Is that your information? Mind if I take a peek?”

He was up and across the room before anyone responded, pulling a pair of glasses from his suit, peering closely at each article and paper of notes.

“So, you know this Jack fellow?” John said, just for his own clarification.

Rose nodded, “He traveled with us for a bit.”

“Traveled where?” Sherlock asked sharply.

John glanced at his flatmate, curious at the odd tone in his voice. Sherlock sounded… _frustrated_. The unique frustration reserved for when he had been stumped on a case. The detective’s eyes were fixed on the Doctor, his mouth in a straight line, his face a blank mask. After months in his company, John could tell that Sherlock thought something was off with the two guests, and if Sherlock thought that, he was probably correct.

The Doctor must have sensed his scrutiny because he whirled, his gaze sweeping about the flat before settling on Sherlock. There was a moment of tense silence as the two men eyed each other, each clearly used to being the most clever person in the room.

Finally, the Doctor grinned, “Oh, here and there. London quite often. Other than that, we just travel time and space.”

John glanced at Sherlock, waiting for the usual scoff and scorching remark about idiocy. Instead, Sherlock merely gave a curt nod, his eyes sliding back to the pictures on the wall, “Do you have any ideas where Jack is?”

“Not a one, was hoping you could help.”

“Sorry,” John interrupted, “Are we all just accepting regular time-travel as a possibility?”

Sherlock rolled his eyes, “Honestly John, do try to keep up. Clearly we’re dealing with a situation beyond our accepted scientific restraints, I’ve resigned myself to that fact days ago. The fact that they both know the man, who seems to have an unexplainable talent for not staying dead, suggests that they come from backgrounds similarly beyond our scientific norms. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if the Doctor isn’t actually human.”

“Oh, you are good,” Rose murmured, grinning, “Got you there, Doctor.”

“Yes, he did,” The Doctor said slowly, “I like you, Sherlock Holmes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Constructive criticism is always welcome! Feel free to comment here or leave a note on my tumblr (livingholmesless).


	4. Problem Solving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two heads are better than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in-between chapters, and for the shorter length of this one, but I'm doing nanowrimo (for the fourth year) and between that and college my time is really stretched thin BUT I am not abandoning this story, I may just be posting smaller chapters until November is over.

John handed Rose a cup of tea, placed two on the small coffee table closest to the fireplace and cradled one in his hand as he sat down on the couch next to the young woman. They sat watching the two respective geniuses work in silence for a few minutes before John turned to Rose.

“So, the Doctor is an alien?”

She smiled, “Wondered when you would ask. Yeah, he’s a Time Lord, got two hearts and a massive brain. Last time he mentioned it he said he was over nine hundred years old.”

“Is Jack an alien too?”

Rose frowned, “No, not really, he’s from the future but the not dying thing is more just a fault of mine than anything. And before you ask, I’m human as they come, I just happen to travel with an alien through time and space,” She paused, then added, “And through dimensions, evidently.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense,” The Doctor’s exclamation pulled John and Rose from their private conversation, “Why would he keep dying only to stop? Unless…no…yes!”

“Care to share with the rest of the class, Doctor?” Rose prompted.

“He was trying to get back to our dimension, so in this dimension he’s basically a walking paradox within a paradox. He kept killing himself in the hopes of breaking the paradox and transporting back to our world, but since he can’t die, it doesn’t work,” The Doctor cocked his head, “Well, plus a few dozen other reasons that he wouldn’t understand, but that’s why he kept dying.”

Sherlock frowned, “Then why did he stop? If he is as determined as you say he would have tried at least once more, but he didn’t just stop, he completely vanished.”

John glanced between the two faces, both of them focusing on the question Sherlock had posed. It was amazing to see just how similar, and how starkly different the pair was. While Sherlock was constantly thinking out loud, basking in the audience that generally consisted of John, and often the police. The Doctor’s thoughts were mainly kept to himself, only small exclamations made it past his lips, his mind already racing in a different direction by the time he spoke.

“What if he didn’t stop?” John asked, squirming slightly in his chairs as not only Sherlock’s sharp gaze was turned on him, but the Doctor’s as well, “I mean, he obviously did stop since there’s no news of him dying anymore, but what if it wasn’t him. What if someone else made him stop?”

“Like he was kidnapped,” Rose said, catching on, “That would explain it.”

“Yes, brilliant!” The Doctor said, “That does add everything up, now all we have to do is find out who would kidnap Jack, any ideas, Sherlock?”

“Several,” The detective murmured, his eyes flicking away from John to scan the evidence, “One in particular, but if it’s who I think it is we will have trouble locating them. Though, I suppose I could ask Mycroft if he knows about anything.” The name was all but spit from Sherlock’s lips and John suppressed a smile.

“What are you waiting for, then?” The Doctor asked, “If someone has Jack they probably aren’t doing anything nice with him.”

Sighing, Sherlock pulled his phone from his pocket, dialing Mycroft’s number, pacing as he waited for his brother to pick up. Though they could only hear one side of the conversation, it wasn’t difficult to guess as to what the other half was.

“No, Mycroft, nothing has been exploded……yes, fine I’ll look into it….no, I was calling about the undead man. I have a couple of leads but I need some more information…....I need to know where Moriarty is……..I’m not stupid, brother, I know you’re- yes, yes….” Sherlock’s eyes rolled so far that John was vaguely concerned that they would drop from his skull, and then how would he be able to do all of his brilliant deductions?, “Yes, yes got it, thank you, Mycroft.”

Sherlock hung up the phone, pulling on his coat and grabbing his scarf in the span of seconds before turning to face the expectant room, “I have an address, it may be a dead end but at least it is something. Coming?”

The other three scrambled into movement, John drinking the rest of his tea in a few gulps before grabbing his coat, the Doctor putting his glasses back in his pocket and Rose placing her cup down on the table. Sherlock swept out of the house in his usual dramatic fashion, nodding to Mrs. Hudson on his way out and moving to call a cab.

“Wait,” the Doctor said, “No need for a cab, I’ve got my own transport.”

John glanced around, “You brought a car from a different dimension?”

“No, not a car, I said transport.” The Doctor set off down the street and led the group into a small alley where a vintage police box sat. The Doctor spread his arms wide as if he was displaying a million dollar prize, a broad grin fixed to his face, “This is my TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimension in Space, she’s how Rose and I get from place to place, time to time.” He strolled up to the door and unlocked it, pushing it open and motioning John and Sherlock inside, “We’ll get there faster if we go this way, though it’s a wonder she’s even working at all, different dimension and everything.” He began rattling on about time vortexes and dimension hopping as Rose closed the door and John and Sherlock looked around.

“It’s bigger on the inside,” John said in awe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always constructive criticism is welcome, either here or on my tumblr (livingholmesless.tumblr.com)


	5. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock's lead proves very useful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness I am so sorry this took so long! I severely overestimated my ability to give this fic a quality update while balancing my first visit home and final exams. I think I might just need someone to stand over me and remind me that I want to finish this. Hopefully you enjoy! xx

The Doctor grinned at John’s amazement and rushed to the console, pulling a screen around and turning to Sherlock, “Where’s this lead of yours?”

Sherlock rattled of coordinates, settling into the chair near the console as if he entered spaceships every day, his eyes flicking around the room as he tried to pick up more information about the Doctor and Rose. As the Doctor pushed buttons Sherlock’s attention shifted to John, “Do close your mouth, John, who knows what alien bacteria might fly in.”

John shut his jaw, but pointedly ignored Sherlock’s remark, following Rose to the console.

Finished setting his coordinates, the Doctor looked up at met John’s gaze, “Ready to go?”

“You might want to hold onto something,” Rose added as the Doctor pulled a lever.

The ship jumped into life, the floor shifting from underneath John and his hands flew out to grab the edge of the console. He grinned with amusement at the pure glee in the Doctor’s voice as he spoke about how the TARDIS worked, most of it sounded like nonsense to him but it was interesting to hear. Sherlock was hanging on his every word, his eyes sharp on the strange man. Barely a minute after the ship had begun to rattle, it stopped, the engine making an odd noise as the Doctor straightened his jacket and cocked his head towards the door.

“Would one of you like to do the honors?”

Knowing Sherlock was not about to move a muscle, not just yet anyways, John headed towards the door, opening it slowly and shaking his head in amazement. When they had entered the box they were in a small alley on Baker Street and now they were in a neighborhood near the Thames.  As the other three filed out of the TARDIS behind him John murmured, “That was brilliant.”

The Doctor beamed, “Wasn’t it? Let’s go find your guy, Sherlock.”

John turned, surprised when Sherlock didn’t immediately billow past the group in a flourish of black coat. Instead the consulting detective’s face was oddly blank as his gaze flicked between John and the Doctor for a moment of confused silence before he seemed to shake himself from his thoughts.

“This way, though I should warn you the last time we had to deal with Moriarty was less than pleasant.” Sherlock said, starting down the sidewalk.

John snorted, ‘less than pleasant’ was certainly one way to put the experience. Though the time when Sherlock had faked his death for years went so unmentioned between them that he wasn’t sure if they had a better phrase to indicate what we were speaking about.

“Less than pleasant in the sense that he has guns?” Rose asked, following Sherlock, “Because I don’t think any of us are armed and the Doctor just talks his way out of things but that might not work in this dimension.”

“John and I handle this sort of thing all the time, we normally end up being fine. This way.”

The group made their way through the street of what had once been a peaceful neighborhood. Now, it looked as if most of the houses were abandoned years ago. Sherlock led the group to a house with its doors and windows shuttered close, glancing around the area before walking around the house to the back door.

As his hand went up to open the door John stopped him with a whisper of his name. Sherlock gave a nearly inaudible huff as he glanced at John, “Is there a good reason for you asking me to stop, John?”

“This is Moriarty we’re dealing with. There could be guards in here, or it could be a trap. He does have it out for you.”

“Moriarty is dead, John. He shot himself on the rooftop. Don’t you remember?” Sherlock said, his tone edging on impatient.

The Doctor frowned, “If the guy we’re following is dead then how could he be holed up here…unless…” He trailed off and grinned at Sherlock, “Oh he’s a bit clever isn’t he?”

Sherlock’s lips twitched in a smile, “It always was mildly irritating.” He glanced back at John, “The Moriarty we knew is dead, John. But after his death a few copycats sprung up, wanting to take his place. When I was finishing dealing with the original’s ring of crime I started to go after some of the imposters. A few I left to Mycroft to handle, this is one of them. However, he is nowhere near as clever as the real Moriarty and no one has been in or out of this door in two days and there is only minor surveillance on the street, I highly doubt he would lay a trap without the proper equipment to know when it has been sprung. He isn’t that stupid.”

“How do you know no one has been in or out of the door?” Rose asked.

“Not now,” John hissed, cutting of Sherlock as he went to begin his deductions, “Are you sure no one is waiting to shoot you on the other side of that door?”

“If they were, we would all be dead by now. If you don’t mind?” Sherlock said, pushing the door open without waiting for John’s response.

The Doctor strolled in after Sherlock, tugging Rose along behind and John entering last. The house was shabby and run down, very little left inside. Apart from the lone chair and a few instances of shattered glass there was nothing that would catch your eye upon first glance. Sherlock swept the area with his gaze before turning down a hall and testing another door.

“Locked,” He muttered.

“Oh, here, let me take a look,” The Doctor moved forward, pulling a tool from his jacket and pointing it at the lock. The tip of the object lit up, the blue shining light on the door as it made a sound. There was a click and Sherlock tested the door again, it swung open with ease.

“Handy,” John muttered.

“Sonic screwdriver, never go anywhere without it. Well, I try not to anyways.”

Sherlock led the way down a flight of stairs, flipping a light switch when they got to the bottom. The cellar was bathed with bright fluorescents, washing the room with a lighting similar to a lab. In the middle of the room were two tables of cruel looking instruments. Against the back wall, limbs tied to four separate corners and eyes squinting against the light was a tall man with black hair.

“Jack! You’re alright,” Rose rushed forward, grabbing a knife from the table as she passed and immediately trying to hack through one of the ropes, “We got your message, on the psychic paper.”

The man flashed her a beaming grin, “I figured. It’s nice to see you again.” He nodded at the Doctor, “It’s been a while.”

The Doctor strolled forward, pulling his screwdriver out once more, “Can’t stay out of trouble, can you, Jack?” With a point and click the ropes holding Jack dropped to the ground and he slumped forward, caught by a concerned Rose.

He smiled once more, though this time exhaustion was etched on his face, “Learned from the best. Though right now I could use some rest.” His eyes rolled up and he collapsed, Rose staggering to hold him upright.

“Here,” John stepped forward, helping Rose with the weight, “We should get him back to Baker Street, I have my medical kit there.” He glanced around, looking for Sherlock, “Mind lending a hand?”

Sherlock turned, pocketing a sheaf of papers, eyeing Jack, “I suppose. Let’s get him back to your TARDIS, Doctor. I think we have some more work to do.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always constructive criticism is welcome, either here or on my tumblr (livingholmesless.tumblr.com)


	6. The Notes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock reviews the notes he took from the house. They indicate a much larger problem than an errant time traveler.

Once back at 221B, John went straight to work in examining Jack’s wounds as the Doctor and Rose hovered behind him. He noticed, with a sort of wry resignation, old scars from several wounds that should have, and probably were, fatal. Though he had objectively been aware that Jack was the man that continually died only to come back to life, the proof was still a bit of a shock. After cleaning and bandaging the worst of the wounds John stood, moving to clean his hands.

He passed behind where Sherlock sat, in the exact same place he had been there ever they had returned to Baker Street. Sprawled on the kitchen table in front of him were papers that John assumed Sherlock had picked up from the house.

“Any luck?” He asked, but his question was ignored.

Shrugging John moved back to where the Doctor and Rose were talking quietly. He frowned at the worried looks on their faces, “I understand he’s a good friend, but I imagine you’ve seen him worse off than this.”

Rose smiled slightly, “That is true, thank you for looking after him John. It gave us time to worry about other things.”

“Such as?”

“A missing piece of future technology,” Rose said, “It would have been on Jack when he arrived but it’s not on him now. If it gets into the wrong hands we may have a problem.”

John glanced between the pair, “There’s something I’m missing, isn’t there?”

“Not unusual, John,” Sherlock finally spoke and all the attention swung towards him, “What you should have asked yourself from the beginning is how Jack ended up in our dimension, since the Doctor and Rose obviously traveled here in the TARDIS. From the papers I found in the house, he was wearing what looks like a watch but has extremely advanced technology. The people who stole it don’t know what it does, yet, but I imagine it takes the user through dimensions.” He glanced at the Doctor with his last sentence for confirmation.

The Doctor nodded, “It’s called a Void Manipulator, used to take you through the space between dimensions that my people call the Void. Rose and I actually used one to get here, but it’s good for one trip only. The people that took it won’t be able to get it to work without the other piece, which I have.”

Sherlock frowned, “There are only two of them, correct?”

“Yup.”

“Is there any other way to travel between the dimensions?”

“Well,” The Doctor considered the question, “Theoretically, you could use a Void Ship if you knew how to build one.”

“Theoretically?” John repeated, “So no one could actually do it?””

“It _is_ theoretically. But in reality, yes, you could use a Void Ship. I’ve seen one, piece of art but it was destroyed. I don’t know of any other species that has the knowledge or skills to make one.”

“Why do you ask?” Rose murmured, looking slightly worried.

“Unless our dimension has the same amount of extra-terrestrials as the one you came from, which is highly unlikely, the notes I took suggest that something else came searching for the manipulator.”

The Doctor strode over to the kitchen, glancing over the notes, his eyes widening as he read, “But that’s not possible.” He grabbed a few papers and started pacing as he read them, “That shouldn’t be possible.”

“Doctor, what is it? Who else is here?” Rose asked.

“That’s the problem, I don’t know. I’ve never seen them before.” He muttered, “These look like they weren’t official records of whatever was happening, maybe Jack will have more answers, but it’s just someone describing who was helping them. Tall, long limbs, larger than average heads, some sort of ability to manipulate electric energy.” The Doctor stopped pacing and shook his head, “Without more information I don’t know anything about them, or what they’re doing here.”

“If they’re holed up with Moriarty it probably isn’t anything good,” John said, “Whether he’s a copycat or not.”

A sound from the form on the sofa distracted the group and Rose moved to help Jack sit up. He flashed her a smile, accepting the cup of tea that John had sitting out for him, “So who wants to tell me where I am?”

“Different dimension, but you knew that,” Rose offered, “That’s Doctor John Watson and Sherlock Holmes is the one by the door.”

Jack stood and shook John’s hand, “I take it you patched me up, thanks.” He turned to where Sherlock had moved into the room, his grin widening as he took in the man’s appearance, “Captain Jack Harkness. You’re Sherlock Holmes? Prettier than the books suggested.”

“Stop it,” The Doctor said, his voice filled with a warning tone, “We’ve got things to do. Who took the manipulator from you?”

Jack took his eyes off of Sherlock with a dramatic air of resignation, “The Manipulator? I don’t remember anyone taking it.” He frowned as he thought, “Matter of fact, I don’t remember most of what happened.”

The Doctor handed Jack the notes and he scanned them, pushing up the sleeves of his shirt as he considered the writing, “I don’t remember any of this.”

“Jack,” Rose said suddenly, “What’s that on your arm?”

Jack glanced at the inside of his arm and held it out so the room could see. Written on his forearm in some sort of black marker were a series of lines, tally marks that sat in stark contrast to his skin.

There were ten of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments always welcome here or on my tumblr, [livingholmesless](http://www.livingholmesless.tumblr.com)


	7. Game Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faced with the question of strange marks on Jack's skin, the group makes decisions on where to go next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! This chapter would not cooperate (and as such is a bit short) but now that it is finished I've already made progress on the next chapter. That'll be up soon.

The marks glared at the group from Jack’s skin, setting everyone on edge.

“You were obviously making a tally of something, before you got captured. You wouldn’t have been able to mark your skin when they had you tied up like that.” Sherlock said, yanking at Jack’s arm to study the marks closer, “But what were you tallying? An average person wouldn’t need to mark if they saw ten things or objects or whatever it was, they can remember that, but you felt the need to tally. Not all ten marks were made at the same time, different degrees of darkness indicate different pressure, and in a few marks, a different writing instrument. So you were marking as you went along, remembering to mark each time you were faced with the object but perhaps forgetting when it was not imminent or in front of you. Marking what? It must have been important if you resorted to tallying on your skin rather than a peace of paper, which would be easily lost.”

Jack looked slightly rattled by the rapid speed at which Sherlock had spoken but shrugged, “I can’t remember. It’s like, I know what it was but it just sits at the edge of my memory. Do you know anything like that, Doctor?”

The Doctor frowned, “Nothing, completely new to me. It’s probably something you picked up in the future, one I haven’t visited yet.”

“Maybe he learned it from you in the future,” Rose muttered, “Not that it does us a lot of help right now.”

The group fell into silence as they considered the tally marks. Sherlock and the Doctor had taken to pacing, forcing the other three to settle on the couch so they were out of the way as the two geniuses strode back and forth across the room.

It was nearly ten minutes later when Sherlock clapped his hands together, his face grim as he said, “There’s nothing for it, we need to find Moriarty if we want to know and if we want Jack to get his device back.”

“Copycat or not, do you really think it will be that easy to find him?” John asked.

“I spent two years hunting criminals, John, I believe I am the expert in the room.” Sherlock’s voice was sharp in a way that it rarely was when he spoke to John. The tension merely hinting at what he had gone through in the two years of his ‘absence’.

John scowled, but couldn’t deny Sherlock’s point, “Then where do we start?”

“We’ll have to visit Mycroft, get everything he has on Moriarty. He’ll be delighted, been trying to get me to pick up his trail since I came back. Send out feeders in the Homeless Network. Doctor, if I gave you some access codes could your TARDIS wire through security cameras?”

The Doctor nodded, “Simple enough to do, may have to park her closer to your flat though.”

“This is going to take a while, so what happens if we run into whatever Jack was tallying? If he forgot then we could all forget to. They could be following us around London and we’d never know.” Rose said.

“Easy, we just tally exactly as Jack does.” The Doctor supplied, “If you see something lurking around that looks suspicious, mark it down. It doesn’t hurt to be careful. Come on you two, we’ll move the TARDIS closer to the flat.” He rushed down the stairs without waiting for a response, Rose and Jack hot on his heels.

As the front door swung shut John sighed, turning to meet Sherlock’s gaze, “Do we have to do this Sherlock? I’m sure the Doctor is more than capable of finding the manipulator they’re looking for.”

“No case for weeks and you expect me to sit this out?” Sherlock replied, pulling out his phone to send Mycroft a series of texts, “Don’t be stupid.”

“Sherlock,” John’s voice was stern, “Listen to me.” He waited until Sherlock finished his texts and put his phone back in his pocket, eyes fixed on him, “Think about it, the last time we dealt with a Moriarty things didn’t exactly turn out that great.” He blinked against the unwelcome vision of Sherlock falling onto the pavement.

Sherlock was quiet for a moment, studying John before he said, “Jim Moriarty is dead, John. The man we’re chasing now is nothing more than a glorified fan. We’ll be fine.”

“You can’t guarantee that.” John hesitated, “I’m just…I can’t go through that again, Sherlock.”

There was a flash of emotion in the detective’s gaze, there and gone too fast for John to name, but he could’ve sworn it was anger. Anger at what? Surely not him. The chime of Sherlock’s phone distracted them both and he pulled it back out, glancing at the screen, “We’ve got an appointment with Mycroft to attend.”

He turned and went to grab his coat and scarf, putting them on briskly as John did the same. Sherlock was moving out of the flat when he whirled around to face John once more, “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that nothing of that nature ever happens to you again, John. That is your guarantee.”


	8. Holmes, the Elder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock and John visit Mycroft

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit short because it's setting up for the action in the next chapter.

The cab pulled up to The Shard, Sherlock paying the driver as John got out, glancing around with interest. He half-expected a black car to pull up to the curb and take them to whatever secret location Mycroft was currently working from. When Sherlock turned and began walking towards the entrance to the building he raised his eyebrows.

“Didn’t know Mycroft worked from The Shard.” John muttered, following Sherlock to reception.

“He doesn’t usually, it’s just where he is today.” Was the response as he passed the woman at the desk a small security card. John was interested to note that this one actually had Sherlock’s name on it, rather than Mycroft’s or Lestrade’s.

The woman scanned the card and nodded, “The elevator just to your left, Mr. Holmes.”

Sherlock and John followed the woman’s instructions, stepping inside the elevator after Sherlock had scanned it with his card once more. The elevator had only five options of floors, Sherlock pressed the third button and the elevator began to move upwards.

They exited on what the elevator designated floor S2, which was in the spire of the building. The room was spacious with ceiling to floor windows. Mycroft sat at a desk to their right, his eyes fixed on a report on his desk.

“Didn’t know they had actual rooms up here,” John murmured.

“Well-kept secret, reflecting glass keeps people from being able to guess and Mycroft, and a few others, get offices with the best view in the city.” Sherlock replied with a glance out the window.

“Up all night again, Sherlock?” Mycroft asked as the pair moved to take seats across from him.

“You know I went to the last known address of Moriarty, Mycroft. You texted me the address yourself.”

Mycroft looked up from his report, running a keen eye over first Sherlock and then John before turning his attention back to his brother, “Finally interested in hunting him down? I thought he wasn’t entertaining enough for you.”

“He got more interesting,” Sherlock replied shortly, “You did read my email, did you not?”

“Yes,” Mycroft drew the word out, “I should turn the report over to the Ministry of Defence. Dimension-crossing aliens seems a bit much to handle, even for you, brother.”

“But you won’t, they’ll make a mess of it. I just need everything you have on Moriarty.”

Mycroft pushed a file folder across the table and Sherlock picked it up, ruffling through pages as his brother spoke, “As you can see there isn’t much. While he isn’t as impactful as his namesake he is nearly as difficult to find.”

“What happened a month ago?” Sherlock asked.

“We don’t’ know. He completely vanished for three days before resurfacing.”

“He didn’t though, just his work. You have no visuals on him for the last month. Why would he suddenly go through so much trouble to keep from being seen?”

Mycroft shrugged, “It is peculiar. Now, this _Doctor_ of yours. You seem to have an affinity for attracting those in the medical profession.”

“He’s not actually a doctor,” Sherlock muttered as John shifted slightly at the slightly deprecating tone of Mycroft’s voice, “It’s merely what he calls himself. According to him he is what’s called a Time Lord, from a race of people that are more than likely extinct. The blue police box is his ship, the TARDIS.”

“When did he tell you that?” John asked.

Sherlock glanced sideways, “He briefly mentioned his species when he began rattling on about vortexes and from the way he spoke of them their extinction was not difficult to infer.” His attention turned back to Mycroft, raising an eyebrow as if waiting for him to speak.

“You will keep in touch about your progress.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Perhaps,” Sherlock stood, “Come on, John, we’ve got a criminal to find.”

 

 

 

 


	9. The Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An investigation cut short leaves the group with more questions than answers.

When Sherlock and John made their way back to Baker Street they found the TARDIS settled in the middle of their flat. Sherlock barely gave the ship a second glance as he tossed his coat and scarf over a kitchen chair.

John sighed and stepped inside the open door to where the Doctor was staring at a screen, “When you said you were going to move the TARDIS closer to the flat I didn’t think you meant right inside of it, Doctor.”

The Doctor shrugged, “Didn’t want people nosing about my ship. Where’s Sherlock?”

“Outside, one minute,” John popped his head out of the TARDIS and into the flat, “Sherlock, the Doctor’s ready to hook into surveillance.”

The detective was staring resolutely at the wall, pinning documents from Mycroft in their appropriate places as the collection of evidence steadily grew, “Dull. I would assume that a Time Lord doesn’t need my help to hack surveillance.”

“Could you try and be a bit less of an arse?” John said.

Sherlock glanced over his shoulder, “If it bothers you so much, John, go back and see what the Doctor is doing.”

Something in Sherlock’s tone rubbed John the wrong way and he scowled. Without another word he retreated back into the Tardis to lean against a railing as the Doctor proved that he did not, in fact, need Sherlock’s help to hack into surveillance.

Nearly half an hour later Rose entered the console room from somewhere else in the ship and John vaguely wandered how much larger the thing was as Rose dried her hair from an obvious shower. She smiled kindly at John, “Get much information from that meeting?”

“I didn’t,” John replied, nodding his head towards the door, “The git outside got all the information. Good luck getting anything out of him though.”

Rose pursed her lips thoughtfully, “Fancy a cup of tea, then? With these two geniuses going we’re just in the way.”

John shook his head, “I’ll stay in here, thanks. What happened to Jack?”

“Sleeping, he’s exhausted,” She replied, “Let me know if you change your mind about the tea.” Rose made her way down the ramp and into the living room.

“Surprised she’s so calm around you lot,” The Doctor spoke for the first time in nearly forty minutes, “The Sherlock Holmes books are some of her favorites.”

“Books?”

The Doctor grinned, “A whole collection, think I’ve got them around here somewhere. Quite the works they are. Some of the most popular stories ever created, the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson.”

John shook his head in amazement, “People read books about us? I mean, I know people read my blogs but that’s insane.”

“Well, keep in mind that you and Sherlock aren’t real in my dimension, just stories.” Was the reply, “But yes, people love them, and not just the human race either. You two don’t stop being talked about for millenniums. Whole classes are taught about your exploits, your relationship, everything.”

“Relationship?” John echoed, “What do you mean?”

His questions went unanswered as the Doctor’s attention was suddenly caught by something on the screen, “Now that’s strange,” He muttered, “Reckon that may be what we’re looking for.” Without a word of explanation he rushed out of the TARDIS to speak with Sherlock, leaving a very confused John Watson behind to stare at the empty street on screen that had caught the Doctor’s eye.

\----

An hour later, the group of five filed out of a taxi in front of a small house. The street around them was empty, an eerie quiet settling around them that complemented the cloudy sky.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and held it to his ear as the frequency of its noise varied. After a few moments he nodded decisively, “The temporal anomalies are coming from this building. I’ve a feeling that whatever took the Void manipulator might be inside.”

“Everyone remember to mark your arm in the event that you run into some unusual,” Sherlock muttered, “There’s a high likelihood you won’t remember so this may be our only way of understanding what happened.” After everyone nodded in understanding he glanced at the Doctor, “Lead the way.”

They group entered the house through the front door and followed the Doctor as he ventured deeper into the building, following the noise of his sonic. John brought up the rear, his hand gripping his gun with unease. The house was underwhelming in its normality, nothing was unusual or out of place. He walked slowly, ears keen in an attempt to pick out anything out of the ordinary.

A soft scuffle alerted him  and John whirled on his heels, gun out and pointed into a side hallway.

“John Watson,” A soft voice reached him, sounding almost electric, “We know who you are.”

John moved his free hand to his pocket and pulled out a marker, popping off the cap as he stared, trying to see into the darkness, “Well that’s lovely, but I would like to know who you are.”

“We are The Silence,” The voice came from further back this time. Had the speaker moved or was there more than one there?

“Right, mind stepping into the light so I can see who I’m talking to?”

A light flickered briefly before turning on and washing the hallway. John took a large step back in shock. He was facing aliens, there were no two ways about it. Before him were three creatures that were tall and pale, sickly looking with large heads and no clear mouths. Their fingers were also long and spindly.

“John, we lost you, what’s going-?” Jack cut off as he rounded a corner and saw what John was staring at. In a moment his own gun was drawn as he shifted into a fighting stance, “Now I remember you. Neat trick, what is it?”

John took their moment of distraction to make three solid tally marks on his forearm as the aliens replied, “Jack Harkness, we have no further use of you.”

Long fingers began to reach out as the lights flickered violently and John shot. The noise echoed through the house and the Silence began opening mouths of pure black in screams. Thundering feet sounded and suddenly Sherlock, the Doctor and Rose were all there, all staring before them in disbelief at the creatures.

“Who are you? Name yourselves!” The Doctor called.

The lights flared and shorted out. The Doctor scowled and pointed his screwdriver towards the windows and the curtains flew open. When they could see once more they were alone.

Rose frowned at John and Jack, “What have you two got your guns out for? You could hurt someone.”

Both men blinked in confusion before storing their guns, John frowning thoughtfully, “Something was there, just moments ago. I think so anyways.”

Sherlock’s eyes flicked between the two men before he turned on his heel, “No reason staying here, we have the information we need.”

“What are you on about?” Rose called after him.

“Look at John’s arm.” Was the response.

The rest of the group did so. Three fresh tally marks glared up at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In full disclosure I had not planned to update this fic again and was going to leave it where it was because I was no longer interested in writing it. However, I received a message from AO3 user [ill_interrogate_the_cat_castiel](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ill_interrogate_the_cat_castiel/pseuds/ill_interrogate_the_cat_castiel) a few months ago that brought the fic back to my attention. So, I dusted off my wholock cap and re-planned the entire fic and here we are again.
> 
> I will be updating on Sundays :)


	10. Deductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock tries to remember the Silence.

The trip back to Baker Street was completely silent, everyone caught in their thoughts and no one willing to talk until they were in privacy. When they were inside the flat, the Doctor led the way into the TARDIS, closing the door after them before moving to the console.

“What do you remember, John?” Rose asked.

John shook his head, “I remember hearing a noise and that’s it until you asked me why I was holding my gun.”

“Fascinating,” The Doctor said, “We’re dealing with a creature that can delete itself from memories. They didn’t just delete yours, John, they got all of us. It’s quite clever, really.”

Sherlock rolled his eyes, “I need someplace silent where I can think, Doctor.”

The Doctor glanced at him before shrugging and pointing towards a door, “Through there down the hall and keep walking until you find a door.”

“Why do you need someplace silent?” Jack asked.

“I’m going to my mind palace. I find it hard to believe the creatures are capable of completely erasing themselves from my mind, especially in such a short amount of time. It is more likely that they block us from being able to access parts of our memory, meaning that if you saw a creature again you would also suddenly remember the first time you saw it.” Sherlock said, “I’m going to see if I can remember. Do not disturb me.”

“Mind palace?” Rose murmured as Sherlock left the console room.

John shook his head, “Don’t bother with it, he’ll be back soon. Who knows, maybe this isn’t just his massive ego talking and he’ll actually have some answers.” 

...

Though extremely vague, the Doctor’s instructions were reliable. After walking for about a minute Sherlock noticed a wooden door to his left. It swung open with little resistance to reveal a near replica of the living room in 221B. Sherlock stepped into the room with amazement, letting the door swing shut behind him.

The crackling fireplace drew his attention and Sherlock settled into his armchair, looking about for a few moments longer before letting his eyes fall shut. He breathed slowly, deliberately as he divested himself of his awareness of his surroundings, focusing entirely on his mind. With the ease of much practice he called up his mind palace, arriving in the middle of the long, central corridor.

At this point, Sherlock was lost for direction. Where would he store information that he wasn’t aware he knew?  He began walking past various doors that he knew would be no use, past the wing (the small one mind you) devoted to John and to a new area related to the information he knew about the Doctor and his world.

Here, Sherlock slowed, testing doors now and then as he searched. Towards the end of this area his attention was caught by a blank space of wall in between two doors. Frowning, he moved towards it and reached out, a door was rapidly appearing and fading in a way that made little sense.

After a few tries Sherlock was finally able to grip the handle and he shoved his way into the room. Before him was the creature and he felt a shiver go down his spine. How could he have forgotten such an important detail. Sherlock studied it carefully, quickly cataloging its appearance in a separate area of his palace in case he could never find this room again. When he was confident he knew all the information he needed, he backed out of the room, the door fading the moment it was closed.

“Quite clever after all,” Sherlock muttered, echoing the Doctor’s earlier sentiment before turning, leaving his mind palace.

...

John had ordered delivery for the group while they waited for Sherlock to come back and he was covering a plate to force the detective to eat later when Sherlock emerged from the TARDIS. Jack was in the middle of telling a wildly outlandish story involving Margaret Thatcher and a shape-shifting alien. The story was cut short by Sherlock entering the room and pouring himself a drink.

“Well?” John prompted when Sherlock stood quiet for too long, “Did you learn anything?”

“I found the creatures,” Sherlock said, “Can your TARDIS, by any chance, pull an image from my memory and project it, Doctor?”

The Doctor nodded, “Simple enough, let’s go see what we’re dealing with.”

It was the work of a few minutes for the Doctor to hook Sherlock up with the TARDIS and get everything ready. At a nod from the Doctor, Sherlock called the image back to the forefront of his memory and slowly a hologram appeared in the middle of the console room.

“The Silence,” John muttered, staring at them, “They called themselves the Silence.”

Rose wrinkled her nose, “How do we forget something as horrifying as that?”

“Were they there when you were being interrogated?” Sherlock asked Jack, sharply.

Jack nodded, “Yes, they were. But they weren’t interrogating me. It was a man, he never introduced himself but his helper called him Moriarty.”

“Nothing new there,” Sherlock muttered.

The Doctor flipped a few switches, “You can unhook, Sherlock, I’ve saved the image in the TARDIS database.”

Sherlock stepped away from the chords and ran a hand through his hair, “Here’s the question. Jack ran into at least ten of these creatures and they took his Void manipulator. Considering the circumstances we must entertain the idea that The Silence are from your universe rather than mine and John’s.”

“It’s nearly a guarantee that they crossed the Void as well,” The Doctor said.

Sherlock was quiet before asking, “Is there any possibility that they have the capabilities to build the Void ship you mentioned?”

“No…yes! That’s brilliant!” The Doctor jumped to his feet and rushed into the TARDIS, the rest of the group following after the mad man with slight confusion, Sherlock and John grabbing their jackets before moving inside the ship. The Doctor rushed around the console, “I’m dense! I’m completely thick! I should’ve been scanning for residual Void energy the moment we arrived but I didn’t think of it. Anyone who has gone through the Void would be coated in the stuff. Rose and I are practically dripping it. There!” He cut off as the TARDIS made a ding, “Found it!”

The TARDIS jumped into life, setting everyone off balance as the Doctor continued to call himself an idiot. When the ship landed everyone rushed out of the TARDIS except for Sherlock. His hand was frozen inside his jacket pocket and John skidded to a stop just before he left the TARDIS.

“Coming, Sherlock?” He asked.

“In a moment. Go ahead, John, I’ll be right behind.” Sherlock replied.

John frowned at the odd tone in his voice but nodded and left the TARDIS. Sherlock waited several long moments before pulling his hand from his jacket pocket and glancing at what had been inside. Settled on his palm was a bright red apple with three letters carved into it.

I O U

Suddenly, Sherlock wasn’t as interested in solving the case.


	11. Did You Miss Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group comes face to face with the mastermind behind The Silence's movements.

The Doctor dashed from the TARDIS and towards the large warehouse without any sense of self-preservation. Rose was hot on his heels, calling after him to slow down with Jack behind, laughing at their antics. While the Doctor, Rose and Jack rushed into the warehouse John skidded to a stop just outside of the doors, frowning back to the TARDIS.

He waited nearly five minutes before Sherlock emerged from the TARDIS and tossed something across the street. John squinted as the object flew, it looked as if it was a red ball but Sherlock wouldn’t just be carrying a ball in his pocket.

Sherlock walked over to him and he asked, “What did you just toss?”

“Hmmmm?” Sherlock asked, clearly distracted.

“That thing you just threw, what was it?”

“Inconsequential,” Was the short reply, “Where is the Doctor and his travelling company?”

“They ran inside.”

Something flashed in the detective’s gaze and his head snapped up, staring at the warehouse, “Fools. They have no idea what they’re dealing with.”

“I’d figured the Doctor to be an expert on aliens.”

Sherlock shook his head and set off inside, “The aliens aren’t what I’m referring to. Come on, John.”

…

The Doctor ran through the hallways of the warehouse, letting his screwdriver lead the way. He was aware that Sherlock and John had not followed them, but the two could take care of themselves, and he had an appointment with a Void crossing device.

It was after a sharp turn that brought him to an abrupt halt in a hanger. Floating in front of him was a Void ship. It was significantly bigger than the ship that Torchwood had gotten their hands on but it felt every bit as unsettling.

“Isn’t she a beauty,” He muttered, more to himself than Rose or Jack.

“Doctor,” Rose said softly, stepping closer to him.

“Look at her size, Rose. It must’ve taken ages to build. Oh what I would give to have been there.”

“Doctor.” Her voice was sharper this time, more urgent.

The Doctor wasn’t listening as he pulled out his glasses and peered at the ship, “Wonder if it can time travel too.”

“Doctor!” Rose shouted, yanking the Doctor out of his inspection as he whirled to face her.

“Blimey, Rose, no need to shout.” He said, “What is it?”

She rolled her eyes and motioned around them. The Doctor glanced up and raised an eyebrow, “Oh, right.”

The small group was surrounded by the Silence. The large aliens blocking off every exit route and seemingly unbothered by the weapon that Jack was currently pointing in front of him. The Doctor quickly counted at least twelve of the creatures and shoved his hands in his pocket as he grinned cheerily.

“Didn’t get the chance to meet you last time, I’m the Doctor. How are you?”

“We know who you are,” The speaker was directly in front of him.

The Doctor’s grin widened, “Do you? That’s wonderful. Let’s get straight to it then. You build a big giant Void ship and travel to a different dimension. You land here and suddenly the ship stops working so you find a device to compare the designs right off the hand of a time traveler. You take the device and rebuild the ship.” He paused, frowning slightly, “But why come in the first place? And why haven’t you left yet?”

“The Doctor must die.”

He chuckled, “Well it isn’t the best idea to go to a different dimension. How are you supposed to kill me if we’re in different dimensions?”

“You’re in the same dimension now,” Jack muttered.

“And whose fault is that?” Rose replied, sharply.

“We searched for someone able to defeat the Doctor. Past strategies have proven unsuccessful.”

The Doctor glanced at the other aliens, “Oh? And who did you find that’s going to kill me in this dimension? Can’t be worse than the Daleks.”

“The tin cans with plungers for hands?” A new voice entered the discussion and the group spun, looking for the speaker, “I doubt they have the finesse that I have.”

A man was standing by an open door. He had pale skin, dark hair and was dressed smartly in a designer suit. What was most striking were his eyes. They were the eyes of a madman. They scanned the group with a sort of malicious glee, lingering on the Doctor as he sauntered forward, hands stuffed in his pockets.

“So you’re the fellow that’s meant to kill me,” the Doctor said with enthusiasm, holding his hand out for a shake, “Nice to meet you, I’m the Doctor.”

The man took the offered hand, “So you are.”

Footsteps sounded and the Silence all turned to look at the intruders, stepping aside so that there was a clear line of sight to their arrival. Sherlock and John rushed into the hangar.

John felt his entire world boil down to a pinpoint as he stared into the room. Everything else in the room was nonexistent as he tried to wrap his mind around what was happening, his hands clenching into tight fists where they rested at his sides. Jim Moriarty was dead. Sherlock had verified that himself. So, if Moriarty was so dead, why was he standing mere feet away from him?

Moriarty’s face broke into a maniac’s grin, “John, how good to see you again. And you, Sherlock. I was quite impressed with how you bypassed my trap.”

“You’re dead.” John said, voice flat.

Moriarty rolled his eyes, “Still boring as ever, are you John? I don’t know how Sherlock puts up with you.”

The detective in question was quickly categorizing everything in the room and running through rapid calculations, picking up and dropping possible theories for Moriarty’s presence in fractions of seconds. Finally his eyes fixed on the Void ship, “Ah, so it travels in time as well as across dimensions.”

“How can you tell?” The Doctor asked.

“The copycat that was based in London vanished three months ago,” Sherlock explained, repeating what he had told John after their meeting with Mycroft, “And then suddenly became intelligent, hid from surveillance. The behavior change was too stark, Mycroft bothered me about it for weeks. The Silence went back in time and saved his life, then Moriarty took the copycat’s place.”

“He was a disgrace to my name,” Moriarty said, the picture of nonchalance as he strolled around where the Doctor, Rose and Jack stood to stop in front of Sherlock, “And seeing how you managed to come back from the dead, it’s only fair that I do the same.”

“Sorry, but what’s so bad about him that he was worth going back in time to grab?” Rose asked.

Moriarty glanced back at her before shrugging, “Why don’t you ask Johnny boy?”

The taunting tone jolted John into action and in an instant his gun was out and pointed at Moriarty’s head, “Give me one good reason not to blow your goddamn brains out.”

“John, don’t.” Sherlock’s voice was soft, only meant for the soldier’s ears.

“Don’t you dare tell me to leave him alive, Sherlock,” John snarled, “Not after what he did.”

The Doctor slipped into their line of sight, looking extremely curious, “What exactly did he do?”

He was completely ignored as Sherlock stepped closer to John, eyes sharp on the soldier’s face as he searched for some clue as to what the man’s next move would be, “John…-“

“Shut it, Sherlock.”

Moriarty chuckled, “Listen to your sidekick, Sherlock. He wants a chance to be the hero.” He stepped forward until the barrel of John’s gun tapped his skull, “I just wonder if Johnny has the guts to do it.”

“You think I’m bluffing?” John asked, his mouth quirking into an amused grin. It was the smile that sent chills down Sherlock’s spine, John’s eyes were dead except for a dangerous glint that flashed as he shut off the safety.

“Poor little, John. Left pining for his detective for two years.” Moriarty taunted in a sing-song voice, “What are you waiting for?”

It was the twitch of his left hand, clenched at his side, that alerted Sherlock that John was out of patience. His own hand shot out and jerked John’s arm up as a gunshot rang out. The bullet passed over Moriarty’s head.

“Don’t be stupid, John,” Sherlock snapped, “You have no idea what The Silence would do if you killed him right now, we’re outnumbered.”

There several minutes of tense silence before the Doctor clapped his hands together. “Well, Moriarty, is it? What did you need Jack’s Void manipulator for?”

Moriarty stepped away from John and meandered over to the ship, “To get this thing working again so I can cause havoc in a completely different dimension. If you want to stop me, Doctor, come play. And John, if you actually want me dead you won’t be able to do it in this dimension.” He nodded to the Silence, “I believe we’re done here.”

The Silence surged forward, blocking the line of sight between the Void ship and where Sherlock stood next to John.

“Doctor, can you stop him from leaving?” Sherlock asked as John yanked him back, firing several well-aimed shots at the aliens.

The Doctor glanced behind him, “Jack, help them out, will you?”

“Aye, aye, Doctor,” Jack said, rushing back to the two men.

Rose and the Doctor turned back to the ship just in time to see the door closing with Moriarty inside. A power surge pushed them backwards and the Doctor yanked Rose from her feet so that they tumbled onto the ground as the ship seemed to expand before disappearing from sight.


	12. Torchwood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Moriarty headed to the Doctor's dimension the group needs to find a way to follow, quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating last week, finals were happening and I was dying. Here's to no more school for the next few months!!

Sounds of crashing furniture filtered past the TARDIS door and to the console room. Rose and Jack where sitting silently as the Doctor paced, occasionally running to the console to punch in an equation before pacing again.

A particularly loud crash made Rose glance over, “Maybe I should go check on them.”

Jack shook his head, “Believe me you don’t want to get in the way of a feuding couple. I made that mistake once, was the middle of the 27th century. Granted they were feuding because I had slept with both of them but to be fair, I didn’t know they were married.”

Rose rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to the Doctor, “We are going after him, right?”

“I just have to get the calculations right,” He muttered, “When the ship left it sent out a signal that shattered any residual energy I could use to trace back to our dimension. It was easy to get here because we were tracking Jack’s Void manipulator and he had sent coordinates. I could just access the data for the last known coordinates, or pick one from the TARDIS memory but that’s only half of the problem. We don’t have anything capable of jumping dimensions except for this,” He held up the Void manipulator that they had used to arrive, “And it’s only good for one trip. On its own it’s a one way ticket and Moriarty has the other. I’m not sure how to fix it yet.”

“We’re stuck in a different dimension?” Rose repeated, “You can’t just make another one?”

“If I had the materials, yes, but they’re so behind here I’m not sure if they have the technology I require.” He sighed, “We’ll get back eventually but I’m not sure if it will be in time. We could very well fly into a trap. That man wants me dead, Rose and every second we spend here he’s learning something that could help him.”

“I’ve never heard you this worried about a mad man,” Jack said.

The Doctor glanced at the door, “I’ve been piecing together what happened with John, Sherlock and Moriarty.”

“Must’ve been something crazy for John to try and shoot him like that,” Rose replied, her eyes flicking back to the TARDIS door. It had been sometime since she heard the last crash, perhaps Sherlock was finally getting John to calm down.

…

“Well this is a mess,” Sherlock said from his perch on the couch, casting his gaze about the destroyed flat. John had flipped over all the tables they had, as well as knocking over a few chairs. Anything that wasn’t valuable was strewn over the floor, “Mrs. Hudson will be disappointed with you.”

John didn’t reply. He merely pulled his chair from where it was lying on its side and sat down heavily, his eyes fixed straight ahead. His hands were clenched on his lap as he tried to calm down.  He could feel Sherlock’s gaze on him but he didn’t want to talk to him, didn’t even want to look at the man.

“I’ve never seen you lose your temper like that.” Sherlock continued, “And you say I’m temperamental.”

“Shut it, Sherlock.”

Unfortunately any form of communication only spurred Sherlock on and he leaned forward in his seat, “Did you really think killing Moriarty right there would do anything to help us? The Silence could have killed us all and then gone and brought him back to life again.”

“Sherlock,” John’s voice was sharp, a clear warning.

A warning that Sherlock ignored, “We all would’ve been dead and Moriarty would win. Are you truly so thick that you couldn’t recognize he was pushing you for a reason?”

John’s patience snapped and he shouted, “You can’t expect me to think rationally when Moriarty is involved, Sherlock! He’s supposed to be dead.” His voice dropped down to a whisper, “We were supposed to be done with that.”

“Well, we’re not. Are you going to be a child about it?”

“You calling anyone a child is rich, Sherlock.” He glanced over at the detective, “And you’re awfully calm about this.”

Sherlock shrugged, “We can’t both throw a tantrum. Are you calm enough to go after Moriarty or do I need to leave you here?”

The question left John dumbfounded, as did Sherlock’s sharp tone. He stared at Sherlock in silence, his mind slowly working through the rage that he had been stewing in for the last few hours. For all his unbothered demeanor something in Sherlock’s voice gave him away. It had wavered slightly at the threat of leaving John behind and the soldier was trying to guess what would cause the tone change.

“You wouldn’t leave me here.” He replied evenly.

“Jack has a gun, what use are you if you’re just going to be unmanageable?”

John shook his head, “You don’t even believe that, Sherlock.” He sighed, “I’ll come, and I’ll behave, but if I get a shot at Moriarty, I’m taking it. After what he did how could you expect any different? Maybe you got to spend two years in the lap of luxury but I was mourning my best friend.”

A sharp intake of breath was the only indication that the words had any effect on Sherlock. He glanced away from John, standing, “We should see if the Doctor found anything.”

…

When Sherlock and John entered the TARDIS the Doctor was still switching between screens and the manipulator, occasionally pointing his sonic at the latter and muttering with irritation when things didn’t go his way. Sherlock stepped towards the console, picking up the file sitting out that they had taken when they rescued Jack.

“I’m guessing we don’t have the necessary equipment to follow Moriarty,” Sherlock said, scanning the file.

“I have all the math, the coordinates, everything else,” the Doctor replied, “We just couldn’t survive a leap through the Void.”

Sherlock shook his head, “Moriarty wants you dead and he wants me beaten. He wouldn’t leave us stranded here unless there was some way for us to get to your dimension. He wants us to follow.” He scowled, “No use for it, I’ll have to call Mycroft.”

“You think Mycroft is hiding a Void ship?” John asked, voice incredulous.

“No, but he was entirely too comfortable believing our story about the Doctor. It wouldn’t surprise me if somewhere there’s a science experiment happening that would benefit us.” Sherlock replied, pulling out his phone, “And if anyone would know about it, it would be Mycroft.”

…

The TARDIS materialized in the middle of the English countryside, far away from any sort of road, or civilization for that matter. Sherlock led the way off of the ship, striding towards a lone figure leaning on an umbrella.

“Mycroft.”

Mycroft tilted his head in acknowledgement before turning his eyes over the rest of the group, lingering on the man in the pinstriped suit, “You would be the Doctor.”

The Doctor grinned and stuck out his hand, shaking Mycroft’s, “That’s right. You’re Sherlock’s brother, then? He told us you’d be able to get the old girl across the Void.”

“The TARDIS, yes? It should fit perfectly fine,” Mycroft replied, glancing at his watch before motioning behind him, “Welcome to Torchwood.”

Rose peeked behind Mycroft and noticed the small farmhouse, nondescript and settled in the middle of a field. Rose frowned slightly, “Torchwood? Here?”

“Yes, if you’ll follow me. We’ll have someone pick up the TARDIS when we go in.” Mycroft said before setting off down the small hill.

The group followed Mycroft to the farmhouse and inside the small building. He moved straight to the door that would’ve led to a cellar, pressing his thumb against a round detector. It flashed with a line of light before the door slid open, revealing an elevator. Once everyone was inside, Mycroft pressed the button for the sixth sub-level and everyone stood in silence as the elevator began to descend.

When the elevator came to a stop, the doors opened to a large lab. “Torchwood was founded nearly one hundred years ago in an attempt to prepare England against extra-terrestrial threats,” Mycroft explained as they stepped out of the elevator, “It is, perhaps, the must underground organization in existence today. Torchwood collects anything unexplained or non-terrestrial and seeks out new ways to innovate and explore. Nearly four months ago the agency picked up one of these,” He stopped in front of a large tank. Inside was one of the Silence, its attention fixed on the Doctor, “It didn’t talk much but our scientists were able to extra information directly from its consciousness. I’m assuming you’ve seen more of these?”

“Nasty pieces of work,” Jack muttered, glaring at the alien, “We’ve seen over a dozen.”

Mycroft nodded, “Torchwood has been working to hunt down as many as possible, but that was before they managed to get ahold of Jim Moriarty.”

“You knew?” That was John, his voice ice, “You knew that Moriarty was alive?”

The older Holmes brother glanced at the soldier with disdain, “We guessed, nothing more. It was only Sherlock’s report that confirmed our suspicions. Do keep it together, John. Regardless, our scientists have been working overtime to create this.”

They rounded a corner and were faced with another Void ship. A group of workers had driven the TARDIS over to it and were loading it into the Void ship. Mycroft turned to face the Doctor, “As far as we can tell the device is operational, but given our limited knowledge of its capabilities and no way to know where to program it to land we have not tested the ship at all. I assume you will be able to use this to get back to your dimension.”

The Doctor rushed ahead, pulling his glasses out and staring over the shoulder of a worker at a computer, reading the data in front of him, “Oh, very nice. Impressive. Our Torchwood isn’t quite this up to scratch. No offense, Jack.”

“Offense taken,” Jack replied, grinning.

The Doctor turned back to Mycroft, “This will get us where we need to go without a problem.” He clapped his hands together, “Are we off now?”

“No reason to waste time,” Sherlock replied, “We should move as quickly as possible.”

“We?” Mycroft repeated, “You can’t possibly be planning to go with them, Sherlock? You’ll have no way of getting back. The Doctor can pilot the ship, you cannot.”

Sherlock rolled his eyes, “It is my case, brother mine, I am going after Moriarty and you cannot stop me. Coming, John?”

John glanced at Mycroft’s scowl before nodding, “I’m coming.”

The Doctor moved to the opening of the ship, a smile spread wide across his face, “I’ve always wanted to try one of these, all aboard!” Rose, Jack, John and Sherlock streamed past him inside the ship and he saluted Mycroft before stepping inside himself, “Allons-y.”


	13. Dimension Hopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting a Void crossing right in one go isn't an easy task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, this chapter is definitely a filler while I set up the next part.

The inside of the Void Ship was surprisingly bare. There was one wall of controls and a large amount of space where several rows of chairs were settled. It was clearly designed by humans and resembled a large military plane.  Towards the back of the ship the TARDIS was settled and the Doctor was already running cables from the TARDIS console to the Void Ship console.

“Take a seat anywhere you like,” He called as he rushed around, “Should have us up and running right about…,” Power flooded the ship and he grinned, “Now.”

“Do you know how to fly one of these?” John asked as he sat and strapped himself in.

“Not a clue,” The Doctor said, sounding very excited at the fact, “But the TARDIS will be doing most of the work, I just have to make sure we don’t get stuck in the Void.”

Rose settled next to John, tugging Jack into the seat beside her before strapping herself in. Sherlock was the last to sit down. He had barely connected the straps when the ship began to shudder. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the Void Ship console for a few moments before the ship’s shuddering grew violent before they shot away and into the Void.

Turbulence would have been too nice a word for the shaking and rocking that the ship underwent for the next twenty minutes. Through it all the Doctor ran between both console, muttering to himself about calculations and steering. Finally, the ship settled down and the Doctor opened the docking door.

He rushed outside, the rest of the group just a few steps behind them. They looked to have landed on a golf course and there was a man setting up his shot just a few feet in front of them, his back facing the ship.

“Excuse me, do you happen to have the date?” The Doctor called when they were a bit closer.

The man turned, and dropped his golf club. Staring at them in disbelief, “You’re joking.”

The Doctor’s attention was focused on his surroundings so he merely shrugged, “Quite serious, really do need the date if you happen to have it.”

“Doctor,” Rose muttered, “Look at him.”

The Doctor did, and a huge grin spread across his face, “Suppose date isn’t that important when we’re still in the wrong dimension. I’m the Doctor, what’s your name?”

“David,” The man replied, “David Tennant.”

“David!” The Doctor exclaimed, “Scottish, are you?”

“Yeah,” David definitely sounded dazed as he studied all of them.

Jack’s eyes flicked between the two of them, “You don’t even want to know what I’m thinking right now.” He muttered, smirking slightly.

“I’m sure we can guess,” Was Rose’s response before stepping forward and smiling, “My name’s Rose. It’s nice to meet you, David but we’ve really got to be going.” The last half of her statement was directed at the Doctor, who was still studying David with ill-disguised joy.

She seemed to shake the Doctor from his thoughts and he nodded, “Rose is right, we better be off.” He shook David’s hand energetically, “Great to meet you, David. Nice teeth.”

The group went back to the Void Ship and it seemed to shake before vanishing before his eyes. David blinked, still completely in shock, at where the ship had previously been standing. After a few minutes in silence he laughed softly to himself.

“Nice teeth,” He muttered, “I’ve gone insane.”                                                                


	14. Catching Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After arriving back in The Doctor's dimension the group has a little bit of catching up to do.

The Doctor poked his head out of the Void Ship and stared about for several long minutes before stepping back inside, “Looks like we’ve got the right dimension this time.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, “Now all we have to do is wait.”

Sherlock raised an eyebrow, “Wait for what?”

“Well, for Moriarty to start attacking us so we know where he is or for UNIT to pick up the signal of the ship and come investigate. Either one works.”

Rose sighed, “I’d prefer UNIT over Moriarty.”

The Doctor shrugged and flicked a few switches on the ship console so that a screen opened showing the ships surroundings. Sure enough there was a tank and several dozen armed soldiers facing the ship, “Well today’s your lucky day. Shall we?”

“How on earth did they get here so fast?” John asked, his voice incredulous.

“Probably had a lock on our signature before we landed. Void crossing involves a lot of expended energy on both ends. If you were keeping an eye out for any anomalies, which UNIT is, you’d come check on it as quickly as possible.” The Doctor explained, “Let’s go say hi. Come along.”

Jack and Rose followed the Doctor out of the ship, John and Sherlock following at a slower, more reluctant pace. Everyone’s hands were up in the air and a woman made her through the crowd of soldiers to stand in front of them. She had short blond hair and dressed well in a loose black suit. She ran her gaze along the group before smiling slightly.

“Sorry about the guns but your giant black ship made our sensors go insane,” She said, “My name is Kate Stewart, Director of Unit.” Her eyes fixed on the Doctor, “You look like an old friend of my father’s.”

“Do I? No I doubt it.”

Kate’s smile widened, “It’s something about the energy. It’s nice to meet you, Doctor.”

The Doctor grinned, “You Lethbridge-Stewarts are incredibly smart. You can go ahead and take that thing with you, just be careful my TARDIS is inside. I’m curious, have you heard of a man named Jim Moriarty?”

Kate glanced over her shoulders at the soldiers and gave a few quick orders before she looked back at the Doctor, “This is a conversation we’re going to want to have in privacy.” She tossed her head towards a black car, “I’ll give you a ride.”

“Thanks but I’ve got to go meet with my team,” Jack interrupted, pulling out a phone, "It’s a good idea to see what they know about this whole mess. Give me a call if you need anything.”

He set off past the soldiers and down the road, phone held up to his ear as he began talking to someone on the other line. Kate ran her gaze over the three humans, “Anyone else here work for a top secret organization or will you be joining us?”

“They’re all with me,” the Doctor said, “My TARDIS is inside that ship, tell your soldiers that I don’t want a single scratch on her.”

“Will do,” Kate smiled and turned, “Shall we?”

 ...

The black car drove the group from the countryside to the heart of London as the passengers all sat in silence. Kate had made it clear that any discussion would have to wait until they were in someplace that was guaranteed to be secure. When the car pulled up to the Tower of London Kate led the group inside and through several corridors until they were in the dungeon. Instead of a jail they were inside a state of the art science facility. Kate didn’t give them time to sight see as she walked to her office and locked the door behind them.

“First of all, some introductions would be nice,” She said, “We’ve had Rose monitored for some time but the two men are new to me.”

“Monitored?” Rose muttered in disbelief.

The Doctor clapped his hands together, “Of course. Kate, meet Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. Sherlock, John, Kate’s father was an old friend of mine and unless I missed my guess she inherited his scientific genius.”

Kate raised an eyebrow, “Sherlock Holmes, John Watson and James Moriarty? What have you been up to, Doctor?”

“Different dimension, quite fun really.”

“Besides the point,” Sherlock cut across the conversation, his voice dry in a way that indicated he thought they were wasting time, “What do you know about Moriarty?”

“Not much,” Kate admitted, “Rumors really. A lot of odd disappearances and a few deaths. The only reason UNIT got involved is because we were invaded a few weeks prior.” She typed on a keyboard and a surveillance video appeared on the wall beside them, “Do you recognize these?”

The large heads and long fingers were by no means unfamiliar to any of the four and Rose said, “They’re called the Silence.”

John stared at the screen, “What did they take?”

“Nothing. But they did spend a considerable amount of time in the Black Archive.”

The Doctor’s eyebrows drew down, “They went into UNIT’s top secret weapons vault and took nothing?”

“Obviously they were after information then,” Sherlock said, “I’d assume that the Archive probably has files on all sort of crucial information too dangerous for normal hands. Say, information on the Doctor, perhaps?”

Kate frowned, “We don’t have much on file about the Doctor.”

“It’s easy enough to assume that you have substantially more about the Doctor than most other organizations. A little bit of information may be all Moriarty needs,” Sherlock replied, “Moriarty is clever and he is insane and now he has alien technology to aid him. He doesn’t need UNIT’s help as well. What has he been up to?”

She typed on the keyboard once again, “As I said, not much. There are really one whispers about him.”

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation and a young woman entered with a concerned look on her face. She wore a long knitted scarf and was grasping an inhaler in her hand as if it was made of glass, “There’s something you’re going to want to see.” She said by way of introduction.

The woman stepped up to the keyboard and began typing before selecting a news site and playing the video prominently displayed on the site’s main page.

“The nation is astounded after the release of confidential government documents online earlier this morning. The documents were released by someone acting under the moniker of ‘Moriarty’ a famous villain from Sir Arthur Canon Doyle’s works. Moriarty claims that these documents come from a top secret militarized organization known as UNIT that operates from the Tower of London and tell the story of an alien that has been constantly visiting earth. Critics are calling for responses from the government and for this so called ‘Doctor’ to be handed into authorities.”

The video stopped and the silence within the office was deafening. After several long moments Sherlock shrugged, “Clearly Moriarty has made his move. Now we need to make our own.”


End file.
